"The world is ugly/and the people are sad."

Hadn't made the connection between "Gubbinal" and "Ode to a Grecian Urn" before. Anyway, having my own truth/beauty problem right now, but probably because I'm just a slave to my blood chemistry, and we're having a wee crash this morning. Thinking about pretty stories, noble characters and redemptive endings. I'm not cynical enough to think they can't happen in life, but wondering whether presenting a freak lottery winner as someone who simply made a wise investment wouldn't be a disservice. Mind candy, reader's crack, opium of the literate.

On the other hand, as John once pointed out, turning down the painkillers doesn't hurt them any.